


Custody Battle

by JoyDragon



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: AU, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bloodbending, Character Death, Coparenting, Enemies To Parents, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Minor Sokka/Yue (Avatar), Shared Work, Slow Burn, Steambaby, Zutara, some violence, tumblr post
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28596198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoyDragon/pseuds/JoyDragon
Summary: This is actually from tumblr here: https://authorjoydragon.tumblr.com/post/639938184533475328/if-anyones-up-for-it-someone-should-totallyThe idea is from user Airiustide and the first written part is from user words4bloghere. They have been gracious to let me commandeer the story and low key take it over completely.It’s a pretty neat story. I thought I would share it with my AO3 folks if you haven’t seen it on tumblr!
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 56





	1. Part 1

Disclaimer: part one is NOT my work! This was written by user words4bloghere and credit goes to them! (If they ask me to take this down, I will.)

Part One: 

She was still so young. Having the baby had been a choice, a choice she Karnak had made together, but now he was dead and they were coming for her.

They were still hunting the Waterbenders, seeking to eradicate them like the Air Nomads. Katara had held Kya in her arms and wept. As a Waterbender, her daughter was hope for a future. As a Waterbender, her daughter was marked for death.

They had made it two years before death caught up with them. Sokka, Karnak, Katara, and Kya had been sleeping in a barn. The village they had stopped at was near the coastline, but so far off the supply routes and sentry highways they thought they were safe.

But when guards had come for the farmer’s stores, he had decided to instead expose the Water Tribals he had hidden.

  
Sokka and Katara had gone out, collecting various supplies so they could continue on their journey. As they approached the farm, they saw smoke. They dropped their things and ran.

  
The barn was on fire.   
  


Katara screamed when she saw Karnak fall. She screamed louder as Sokka dragged her away.

  
“KYA!” The scream tore from her with enough force that it ripped her throat to shreds.

Sokka pulled her on.   
  


“She’s gone Katara. We have to go.” His voice was thick, dark, and low. He spoke the language of storms gathering on the horizon. Katara, now mute and blinded by tears, stumbled after him.

Zuko approached the farm on ostrich horseback. His guards had been sent out to secure lodging and food, but as soon as he saw the smoke, he knew something had gone wrong. Iroh had pulled himself up onto a saddle at the same time and the pair had gone off.

Swearing loudly, Zuko saw the mess he had been expecting. A barn was on fire and his guards were beating on an old man. A pair stood over another body.  
  
Not waiting for his steed to stop, Zuko swung down and immediately slid into a stance. His hands up, he spun, pulling on the fire around him. The barn gave up the flames as Zuko pulled, spooling them around his body as a spindle does thread. Bringing his legs together and thrusting his arms straight up, Zuko sent the fire up in a column that quickly burned out. 

The barn, charred beyond repair, now just smoked.

  
“What is going on?” Zuko yelled as he immediately began to stride over to his men.

They had been on the road for five years. They had moved beyond frustration and into pessimistic apathy.

“Your Highness, this man was harboring Water Tribe fugitives.” One guard said. Zuko glanced down at the farmer, kneeling in the dirt and bleeding from various abrasions.

“Then arrest him and take him to the nearest judiciary.” Zuko stated in a clipped tone. Two men saluted before roughly jerking the farmer to his feet and pushing him in the direction of the cart they had brought.

“I assume that was the fugitive?” Zuko continued and gestured to the dead man. The guard turned to look and then shook his head.

“The farmer said it was a family. That’s the husband. The wife and her brother escaped.” The guard replied.

“Waterbenders?” Zuko asked.

“We’re not sure.” The guard answered and Zuko let out a strangled sigh.

“Then dig a hole and bury him. Or cremate him. I don’t care which.” Zuko replied and the guard saluted. As he walked off, Iroh approached, holding a bundle.

“Nephew, we have an opportunity.” Iroh said gently and held out the bundle. 

  
“For what?” Zuko asked irritably and reached out a hand to lift up part of the cloth. Shock caused him to recoil, but he still held up the corner of the filthy blanket.

”For reconciliation.”

It took three further years. A short time, all things considered, to stage a coup. It had nearly destroyed him, as Zuko burned his father away and locked Azula in the darkest hole of a prison. He had ridden in front of an Earth Kingdom army to turn back his own people, strode on the blood of his family up the palace steps, and now faced the blunted anger and ire of his country. They had presented it as a correction of sorts. Iroh was seated as the proper Fire Lord, with Ozai being branded a usurper. Zuko was, naturally, named as his heir.   
  
Still, they called him the Traitor Prince.

What he held in his hand didn’t help matters.

“Renge, careful.” Zuko hissed as the small girl darted away from him and climbed up on a low garden wall.   
  


“I’ve got it Papa.” Renge grunted as she pulled herself up. Zuko winced, but refrained from picking her up. At five, she had reached the beginnings of independence and had taken it to the extreme.

Renge clambered upright and held her arms up in triumph as Zuko softly applauded.

“Amazing.” He said, with a parent’s loving sarcasm. Renge, oblivious, beamed.

“Papa?” Renege asked as she started to walk down the length of the wall. Zuko walked slowly next to her, ready to catch her should her feet falter.

”Yes love?”

“When can we leave the palace?” Zuko looked confused and glanced over his shoulder at the high wall.  
  
“Why would we want to leave?” He asked in return, watching Renge navigate over the stones.

“We used to live all over the place. Remember when I was three?” She explained, keeping her eyes down on her path.  
  
“You don’t even remember being three. I remember just fine.” Zuko retorted.

“Papa?”

”Yes love?”

“Can I learn Waterbending now?” As with every time she asked, Zuko heaved a heavy sigh that came from the bottom of his gut.   
  
“We’ll have to see what Uncle thinks.” Zuko answered. In the back of his mind, he replayed all of the same worries.

Renge would need to learn Waterbending. But finding a teacher would be impossible.When he had come to power, Iroh had decreed that they would cease hunting Waterbenders. But after so long, if there were any left, they would have been born in paranoia and distrust. So far, no one had any reports of a living Waterbender residing in any Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom town.  
  
“I hope my teacher is nice.” Renge stated and Zuko sighed again. He would have to find a teacher.


	2. Part 2

A/N: Okay now this is actually my writing.

* * *

Katara froze in the shadows of the marketplace, gripping her brother’s arm in a vice. 

“Um, ow? What gives?” Sokka complained, trying to shake off her hand. 

“Look!” She hissed at him, directing his gaze out to the main street. His eyes immediately focused on a little girl, who stood out from the crowds as she was most definitely not Fire Nation. 

“What the hell? Why is a Water Tribe kid in the Fire Nation capital?”

Katara didn’t answer, her eyes were glued to the child. She looked so familiar…

Her heart ached as the small girl skipped along, chasing a fire salamander. Her eyes…  
  
She must be around five years old… It clicked in place. “That’s Kya.”

“Katara…” Sokka started, his eyebrows furrowing in pity. “That’s not Kya. Kya is gone.”

“It is her!! I know it, Sokka! That’s my baby! She’s alive!” Katara walked forward, brushing off her brother’s restricting hands. 

Sokka’s warnings and pleas fell on deaf ears as Katara ignored him and ran into the main road. She stopped in front of the young girl.   
  
The girl looked up at her, her eyes widening in wonder. It was someone that looked like her. 

“Kya?”

The young child tilted her head, staring up at the older woman in front of her. There was something familiar…

It had to be Kya. She wasn’t mistaken. Katara wanted to collapse and clutch her daughter to her chest, never letting her go again.   
  
But a hand came down on the child’s shoulder. “Renge? Let’s go, it’s time to go home.”

A fury lit Katara’s soul as she watched this Fire Nation man try to usher her daughter away from her. “That is not your child.”  
Zuko’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, she is.” He noted the woman’s clothing and ethnicity, “I didn’t steal her, if that’s what you’re implying.”  
  
“That’s Kya. That’s my daughter.”

The man’s eyes widened for a moment, but Katara pressed on. She spit at him, “You. You killed my husband, and I thought you’d killed my baby too. But you stole her!”

Zuko regarded his surroundings, wary that her loud voice was gathering attention. He also noticed another Water Tribe man standing near the shadows.   
  
Could this really be the woman and her brother that had escaped his men all those years ago?

If that was the case...

“So it is you. As I said, I did not steal her. She was left behind.”

“Because you were trying to burn us alive! I thought she was already dead!” Katara screeched angrily, wishing to drown this man at the bottom of the deepest ocean.

This woman had every right to be angry… Zuko blinked as Renge clinged to his leg, clearly upset with all the yelling, “Papa…”

He cringed at the absolute fury in the woman’s eyes at that. He suggested, “How about we go somewhere to talk, privately?”

“How about you give me my child back?” The woman snipped at him. 

Zuko took a deep breath, trying to reign in his temper. “As you can see, I have been raising her. She is my child. And I don’t think she would like to be taken away from me forcefully.”  
  
“Oh, like she was taken away from ME forcefully?”

He should have seen that coming. Zuko pursed his lips and nodded curtly, “Look, I was not the one that… I’m sorry that happened. It shouldn’t have. You have every right to be angry, but I’m not just going to give up my daughter when she wants to stay with me.”

Katara’s eyes darted down to her daughter, who was still clinging to this man, clearly upset by the events taking place. To Kya, this man was all she knew as a parent. 

  
Tears filled her eyes as she looked at her baby- grown without her there to witness it. Now her baby didn’t even recognize her.   
  


Zuko panicked as tears ran down the woman’s face. He wasn’t good with ladies, especially when they cried.   
  


It’s not like he thought he deserved Renge more- he was only thinking of her best interest. She knew him. And he could provide everything she would ever need. Not to say this woman didn’t have a right to her… What should he do?

But it turns out he didn’t have to act. Renge did. 

  
Katara glanced down as she felt a tug on her skirt. She peered down through her fingers at the young girl. “So you’re… my momma? I always wanted a momma.”

Choking on a sob, Katara knelt down. “Yeah. I’m your momma. And I’ve missed you a lot.”

The young girl wrapped her small arms around Katara’s neck. “Well I’m glad you’re here now! With me and Papa!”  
  
Katara cried, clinging to the small girl and crushing her to her chest. She ignored the sentiment about ‘Papa’ and simply relieved herself of the grief of her dead daughter. Her baby was alive and well.

And taken care of… Katara looked up at the Fire Nation man. The Prince, she knew, because of his scarred face.   
  
She composed herself, still not letting go of her baby. “Thank you. For taking care of her. I’m just glad she’s alive.”

Zuko was taken aback. Hadn’t this woman just been about to kill him two minutes ago? “Uh… you’re welcome.”

Suddenly the other Water Tribe member emerged, setting his hand on his sister’s head protectively. He stared at Zuko with an unreadable gaze- though the mistrust and subtle hatred didn’t go unmissed.   
  
“We’ll take you up on that offer of a more private setting now.”


	3. Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part is also my writing

The first week or so that the Water Tribe siblings stayed at the palace was very tense. They hadn’t decided the next step, so for now the siblings stayed as honored guests. There wasn’t much time for discussion. Zuko was a busy man, he was the Prince after all, and he had duties. That which he was sorely neglecting.   
  
It’s not that he didn’t want Renge to meet and bond with her real family he just… didn’t trust them. He knew that if left alone they would try to sneak away with her in tow. 

Although… he couldn’t really blame them. But he also couldn’t give up his daughter quite that easily.   
  
Which is why he had upped the guards monitoring the grounds, and cancelled his meetings so Renge was never out of his sight. They weren’t going to win that easily. He was no fool. 

It seemed her brother was no fool either. The man almost always had a hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist, and his ice cold eyes would often scan the surroundings, as if planning an escape route. Not that Zuko could blame him.   
  
Zuko wasn’t the only one that hardly ever left Renge’s side. 

  
The Water Tribe woman’s name was Katara. While she was extremely fierce and intimidating to him, to Renge she was nothing but loving and kind. 

Even now, as Renge had dragged them all to the garden for a tea party, Katara had went along happily. She smiled at the young girl, and stroked her hair, and pretended to sip her tea. The long lost mother was absolutely enthralled with her daughter.   
  
The Water Tribe man- Sokka, was his name, stood suddenly. Katara peered at her brother anxiously. 

  
“Bathroom.” He muttered, turning and walking briskly to the palace. They probably didn’t like being separated. 

Katara glanced at the Fire Prince quickly before turning her eyes back to her daughter. Zuko didn’t mind the mistrustful looks- they were better than the downright hateful and murderous looks he had been receiving before. Progress. 

  
Renge scampered off to chase a turtle duck near the pond. The two adults sat in uncomfortable silence, watching their daughter play happily. 

“So, why’d you do it?” She asked suddenly.   
  
“Do what?” Zuko raised his good eyebrow. 

  
Katara crossed her arms. “Why did you take Kya in as a daughter? Why didn’t you kill her, or leave her behind?”

Zuko frowned harshly. “First off, I would never kill a child. I’m not a monster.” He saw her roll her eyes in disbelief, but pressed on. “I originally planned to take her to one of the Water Tribes and hope someone there would take her in. But… I got attached.”

  
He saw Katara gritting her teeth and he hurried to continue, “We assumed you would have been caught and killed. We didn’t know if she had any family left, and the Tribes are such a mess because of the war, what kind of life could she have there? When she could have everything here? When she could be a Princess?”

Katara took a deep breath and released it slowly. She replied evenly, “The South Pole. It’s where we’re from. You could have taken her there, she’d be cared for by family. She would have been an equivalent to a Princess there, too.”

“That… are you…” Zuko floundered.   
  
A new, harsher voice interrupted their conversation. “Our father is the Chief. We’re on the same political level as you, Prince Zuko.” Zuko looked up at the icy blue eyes of the protective brother. Sokka continued visciously, “You should have returned her there. She could have been raised within her culture, with her real family.”

Zuko swallowed and nodded, looking down at his clasped hands. He whispered remorsefully, “Yes… I suppose I should have.”

  
His eyes flickered to Renge, who by now was soaking wet in the pond. His sweet daughter… He smiled softly as he watched her try to manipulate the water, creating tiny ripples. 

  
Katara gasped. “Is she… water bending?”

Zuko turned to her. “Yes.” His eyes lit up. “Are you benders? She’s been asking for a teacher.”  
  
He was met with silence and suspicious glares. Katara answered, “…No. Neither of us are water benders.”

The Fire Prince frowned. “That’s too bad. She’ll have to wait to find a master then.”

  
Zuko didn’t notice the siblings sharing an uneasy look. 

...

Zuko didn’t realize that Katara had lied to him until another week had passed.   
  
Even with the extra security, there was some risk of infiltration. And Zuko was the hated Traitor Prince who openly adopted a Water Tribe child- maybe to rule the throne herself one day.

Some people weren’t on board with that idea. 

Still, this was the first time that an assassin had came not for him, but for Renge.

As was becoming the usual, neither Katara nor Zuko would let their daughter out of their sight, and so the only conclusion was to share one big living quarter. At least until some trust was built up.   
  
So when the assassin was stupid enough to enter from the balcony of Renge’s room, he met the fury of three very angry adults. 

Zuko himself had always been a light sleeper, and he immediately woke to the sound of the outer doors creaking open. (He was after all experienced with assassination attempts.) He had yelled in alarm, bouncing from the cot with his fists blazing to attack the intruder that hovered over Renge’s bed-

Only realizing that he didn’t have to. 

He had stood shocked in horror as Katara, unmoved from her own cot, clenched her hands and caused the intruder to be held within her grasp.   
  
Zuko didn’t know what kind of power she was using to do such a thing. 

Katara had barely stood up from her bed, her eyes blazing with cold fury, when suddenly Sokka was standing behind the man with a blade at his throat. Zuko hadn’t even seen him move.   
  
“Wait!” Zuko warned them.

Katara’s eyes flickered to his as her fingers curled, causing the man to cry out in pain. “And tell me why we shouldn’t kill this man where he stands?”

“We need him alive for questioning.” Zuko pleaded with them. “We need to find out who he’s with.”

Sokka shrugged and sheathed his blade. Katara narrowed her eyes, and with a flick of her hand the man collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. “Fine.”

Another flick, as if her fingers were directing a puppet, and the man’s body flung against the wall. Katara ignored his whimpers as she got closer to him. “Would you like to tell me who sent you here to kill my daughter, or do you need more persuading?”

“I will never-“ The would-be assassin choked as Katara clenched her fists together.   
  
“Momma?”

Katara’s eyes widened, her hands relaxing as the man fell to the floor again, now unconscious.   
  
“Please stop hurting that man. It’s scary.”

Her eyes softened as she knelt in front of her daughter. “I’m sorry, Kya. Momma was angry because he wanted to hurt you. I just want to protect you.”

She picked the young girl up, cradling her close as she turned to leave the scene. “How about we go get some water, and when we come back your Uncle Sokka and your… Papa will have this all cleaned up.”

As they left Renge’s bedroom, Zuko sunk down onto one of the cots. “What the hell was that?” 

Sokka ignored him, tying up the man’s wrists- where he even got rope from Zuko didn’t know.   
  
“Was that… bending? I thought you weren’t benders!” Zuko admonished. 

“We lied, dipshit. Obviously, Katara is a bender. You really think water benders expose themselves to their enemies?” Sokka huffed. He dragged the man on the ground. “Where do I throw out the trash?”

Zuko called some guards in to deliver the new prisoner and maids to clean the room up. 

He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised that Katara had lied. He would have too, in her position.   
  
Whatever she had just done was NOT regular water bending, he knew that for sure. It was… terrifying. He held newfound respect (or maybe fear) for water benders. And Water Tribe warriors, Sokka was downright deadly. No wonder these two had never been caught and killed- they were practically murder machines themselves. 

Zuko groaned as he sat back in his own cot, feeling the shock and adrenaline run dry. The good news was… Renge would have a teacher now.   
  
Though he wasn’t sure if he wanted her to learn whatever the hell that just was. 


	4. Part 4: Heart to Heart

(Dis my writing still)

* * *

Katara stiffened when someone entered the kitchen, relaxing when she noticed it was the Fire Prince. (And then she stiffened again- because why would she relax around him?)

“You’re up rather early today.” Zuko noted as he grabbed a teacup. 

She offered him the teapot of fresh jasmine she had just made. “I couldn’t sleep well after what happened last night.”

Zuko hummed in understanding. Katara knew he had hardly slept at all- his bed had been empty many hours before hers. She was surprised that he had left them alone with Kya, something he had never done before. 

She had considered waking Sokka and making a run for it. But when she climbed into Kya’s bed with her, Kya had woken and asked for her Papa.   
  
Katara’s heart had waivered, and she ended up just comforting the child instead. To take her from here, from the parent she knew and loved, felt wrong. She... couldn’t do it. Kya... wanted to be here, with her Papa. It would break her heart to steal her away.

She wasn’t sure if that made her crazy. Probably.   
  
Katara shook herself from her thoughts and glanced at the Fire Prince. She cleared her throat, “I want to help question the prisoner. As you now know, I can be very convincing to make someone talk.”

Zuko looked at her in surprise. “Oh. He... he’s already dead.”

“What?!” Katara gasped. She hadn’t done much internal damage that it would have killed him...

“I already went to question him. He was working for a band of Ozai loyalists who would rather have my sister in charge. I got my answers, so I killed him.”

Katara blinked. “You killed him?”

Zuko’s eyes flashed with a rage she hadn’t seen before- it sent chills down her spine. 

“Of course. He tried to kill my daughter.”

Katara nodded slowly in understanding- and perhaps a bit of newfound respect for the Fire Prince. He was just as fiercely protective of Kya as she was- but he was logical and tempered, patient enough to get his answers before acting on his emotions. That was... almost admirable. (Almost- because she wasn’t ever going to admire someone from the Fire Nation.)

He was a good father. She would give him that much. Kya loved him dearly and he had raised her well. Over the time she’d spent here, she saw the lessons Kya went to, the skills she had already begun to develop, the way she was admired by the staff here. She was well-mannered and kind. He truly was raising a little perfect Princess. 

“Thank you.”

She startled, turning back to Zuko in surprise. “What for?”

“For not taking Renge and running. I thought you’d all be miles away by now.” 

Katara looked down at her tea, noticing it was too cool. She heated it back up between her palms with her water bending. If Zuko noticed, he said nothing. She cleared her throat, “I did think about it. I just... don’t think it would be the best for her. I don’t like to admit it, but she needs you.”

Zuko blew out a deep breath, leaning against the counter. “Look, we both love her and want what’s best for her. I think it’s amazing that you found her, and I’m glad she can reconnect with her real family. That’s important. I just... also don’t want to lose her. I’m her family, too.”

“Yes... I see that now. She belongs with you, too.” Katara took a sip of her tea. “I’m not sure what to do now.”

Zuko rubbed the back of his neck, contemplating the plan he had thought of. “We can work something out. Share her a little bit.”

Katara snorted. “And how will we do that?”

“She spends some time here with me... and then she can spend time with you. At the South Pole.”

Her eyes widened in shock. He would willingly let his daughter go with them? When the past few weeks he never let her out of his sight?

Zuko smiled at her reaction. “I think I can trust that you’d bring her back... eventually anyways. Besides, I do think it’s important for her to see her own culture, and meet her family, and learn water bending.”

Katara felt like a fish gapping out of water. 

He really did love her like a daughter and want the best for her. Again, Katara felt stunned as her perspective on the Fire Prince shifted yet again. Maybe... he wasn’t so bad. 

She finally found her voice, “That would be amazing, Zuko.”

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly as he shrugged his shoulders. “It’s what’s best for Renge.”

“Yes... what’s best for _Kya_...” Katara bit the inside of her cheek to hide her smirk as she mocked him. 

He rolled his eyes at her and pushed off the counter. “Well, let’s go tell her the news.”


	5. Part Five

Zuko sat on the edge of Renge’s bed while Katara sat on the other side. With a few gentle pats, Renge was blinking her eyes open and smiling up at her parents. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, “Hi, sweet pea.”

“Morning Papa! Morning Momma!” Renge sat up, already full of energy despite having just woken.

She climbed over onto Katara’s lap and snuggled into her chest. Katara held her close and kissed the top of her head. “Good morning, my baby girl.”

“Renge, we have some news for you. You know how you’ve been wanting a water bending teacher?”

The child’s eyes shined with excitement as she nodded vigorously. Zuko smiled at her and glanced up to catch Katara’s striking blue eyes. “Your mother wants to teach you.”

Renge squealed loudly and hugged onto Katara even tighter. Katara only laughed and squeezed her back.

“But… she wants to teach you at her home. Back at the South Pole.” Zuko’s mouth tilted up as Renge’s mouth dropped in awe. “And you’ll be able to meet the rest of your family there.”

The young girl wiggled happily, leaning into Katara’s face. “There’s more family besides Uncle Sokka?!”

“Yes, baby. You have a grandpa who would love to meet you.”

Renge smiled, “That will be so fun! I want to meet him too.”

Katara tucked her dark hair behind her little ear. “It will be fun. And then after a while we will come back here.”

“But Papa is coming too, right?” Renge turned to face her father. 

Zuko blinked before taking her small hand in his. “No, love. Papa has to stay here and do his work.”

She snatched her hand away, crossing her arms as her face morphed into a scowl. She was not happy.

“You get to travel Renge, and learn water bending! Isn’t that what you wanted?” Zuko was confused by the tears in her eyes.

Renge nodded, but still had her lower lip stuck out. “But Papa, I don’t wanna leave you. But I wanna go because I don’t want Momma to leave us! Why can’t we all stay together?”

Zuko was at a loss for words as he glanced up at Katara. He should have seen this coming.

“Sweetie…” He didn’t know how to gently but firmly tell her he wouldn’t be joining them.

Katara answered. “Your Papa will come too. Won’t you, Zuko?”

The Fire Prince stared at Katara in shock as she stared back at him expectantly. She was inviting him into her homeland? The literal Prince of their enemy nation? Even if the war was over, the damage wasn’t healed. 

“I…” He looked back and forth between their matching blue eyes. He sighed heavily. “Okay. I’ll talk with Uncle Iroh about leaving for a while.”

The girls both cheered and Zuko had a feeling that being ganged up on with pleading blue eyes was going to be his new normal.

…

Iroh had zero complaints about Zuko leaving with them to the South Pole. He had practically shooed them all out of the palace himself. They had packed their things and boarded a ship the next day, heading south. With the Fire Nation’s powered engines, the long trip would only take a day.

Renge adored the sea. Her Uncle Sokka was happy to carry her around and explain the workings of the ship to her. That left Katara and Zuko to watch the endless horizon on the deck. Their silence was somewhat comfortable, they had gotten rather used to each other and grown to respect the other. 

“May I ask you something?” Zuko asked as he watched the setting sun. 

Katara nodded with suspicion.

“Why did you marry so young?”

She looked up at him sharply, but still answered evenly, “It was an arranged marriage. We were trying to repopulate our numbers. Sokka had a wife, too.”

Zuko blinked at that in surprise before questioning softly, “Had?”

“She died many years ago at the battle of the Northern Siege. She was the princess of the Northern Tribe, her name was Yue.”

He swallowed. These people had experienced so much loss at the hands of his nation.

Katara continued on, her eyes burning with a conviction that shook his soul. “They were nice people. Neither of them deserved to die.”

Zuko bowed his head, unable to hold her gaze. He nodded carefully, “My nation has done unforgivable things. And for that, I am sorry.”

She blew out a gust of air. “Well, you were part of the coup to overthrow Ozai, so I can’t be too angry with you in particular. And… you took in my daughter. She would have died without you.”

“She never should have been separated from you, and I’m sorry for the pain it has caused you.”

They smiled briefly at each other in understanding before they heard Sokka call that land was ahead.

They were here.

* * *

Next chapter teaser: “I think I’ll just stay on the ship…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yes I am still continuing this story that was not mine and I commandeered. Whatcha think?


End file.
